Daddy Say What?
by GlassSuicune
Summary: MegaMan X has overcome many challenges and defeated many Mavericks... But he faces his greatest challenge yet...being the dad of four children whom you might be familiar with. Can he pull it off or die trying? X/Alia in future chapters.
1. How on Earth Did This Happen?

Daddy Say What? by GlassSuicune

Note: MegaMan X belongs to Capcom. Cynder and Ash belong to me. This is a major AU I should think, and takes place between the X and Zero series, respectively. I dunno if it really matters or not, though. If this story is similar to anyone else's, I apologize. It was not intentional.

7/19/10: Changed 'MegaMan X' to just 'X'. Nothing big.

Chapter 1: How on Earth Did This Happen?

If anyone were to tell X he'd make a great dad, the Reploid would've opted to laugh at that person, then proceed to run off screaming 'Heck no' in a mantra. That said, it scared the daylights out of him when he was injured very badly one day, only to wake up and be told this by his rather sugar-high friend Cynder:

"Oh, your conscious was split into five different Cyber-Elves when you got blasted to smithereens. Four of them had very distinct personalities, and the other was, well, _you_. Long story short, we couldn't figure out how to mash the Elves back together ( not that it really mattered; remember, you were still intact, basically), so we opted to do something else. Congratulations MegaMan X! You're a papa!"

And it was with those words that the Maverick Hunter's life changed drastically.

And forever, but no pressure or anything.

"I look ridiculous..." X groaned pitifully, as the four Reploid children opted to cling to their 'daddy'. A boy with dark green eyes and sky blue hair was sitting on his shoulders, nearly choking him with his clinging. He was dressed in a very bright green. A boy with red eyes and blond hair had a firm hold on X's left leg, while a girl with dark blue eyes and ocean blue hair was clinging to his right leg. The boy was dressed in a fiery red, while the girl was in an icy blue. A very quiet boy with dark purple eyes and black hair held onto X's right hand, looking at his siblings warily. He was dressed solely in black.

Anyone who had seen the whole ordeal would probably be laughing their head off at this, like Cynder for example. X glared daggers at the blue-and-gray armoured Reploid, but she continued to laugh. Finally, she wiped the laughter tears from her eyes and smiled at the blond. "Hey Fefnir," she said playfully, moving her orange and black hair out of her face, "Think you can outrun me, Squirt?" With that, she ran past the five Reploids at an incredible speed, and Fefnir gave chase. "Yes I can!" he cried. X sighed as the two Fire Reploids disappeared from sight.

What really scared him was, aside from Alia, Cynder was the only female influence his children had. And she wasn't exactly a positive influence, either. Anyone, Human or Reploid, male or female, who loved to cause destruction in their wake definitely was not someone you'd want your kids to hang out with. Period.

X narrowed his eyes as he heard two other people snickering. He turned around and noticed Zero and Axl. "Unless it involves Human or Reploid sacrifice," X growled, "I don't want to hear whatever you have to say." Zero and Axl both blinked, but said nothing. Zero looked at the boy on his best friend's shoulders, and then at the one holding his hand. "I'd say Harpuia and Phantom have really grown attached to you," he started, "Literally and emotionally."

"I don't need your sympathy..."

Axl then opted to look at the girl. "Hey Leviathan," he started, "Taking good care of our friend?" Leviathan nodded happily. "Yes Mister Axl!" she replied. "Well now, aren't you cute..." Axl said with a grin, then he let out a blood-curdling scream as Leviathan suddenly attacked him.

That was when X finally snapped.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" the blue Reploid screamed, grabbing Harpuia and thrusting him into Zero's arms, "TAKE HIM!" X then managed to shake his hand out of Phantom's hold and ran down the hallway screaming to high Heaven. Phantom stood there, teary-eyed, then ran after him. "Dad!" he screamed pitifully as he disappeared from sight.

"Well, that was awkward..." Zero said bluntly, as the now trembling Harpuia opted to cling to him, horrified. Zero then noticed Leviathan had Axl pinned to the ground, covered in ice while she beat him up as punishment for calling her cute. "AGH! That's cold! THAT IS SO COLD!" Axl screamed in pain, his skin lacking colour due to the ice encasing him, "Zero, HELP ME!"

"I am indifferent to your suffering."

The door nearby opened and Pallette poked her head out. She noticed the Reploids and her eyes widened in terror. She promptly went back into the room, closed the door, and locked it with who knows how many locks. Shrugging, Zero looked at Harpuia. "Why don't you and I go and get some ice cream?" he suggested, having seen Human children chase the poor ice cream man with reckless abandon before. Harpuia nodded eagerly, proving that Reploid children weren't much different when it came to ice cream.

"Well then, let's go."

Zero set Harpuia down, not really wanting anyone -especially Cynder- to see him carrying the child. He then walked down the hallway, Harpuia following him eagerly. By this time, Axl was completely frozen, and Leviathan walked away from the ice block imprisoning the Maverick Hunter, rather triumphant. She then ran after Zero and her brother.

Now, this hallway was definitely proving to be rather busy, as Layer suddenly came down from the other direction. She noticed the frozen Axl and raised her eyebrow. She then gently nudged the ice block, and it promptly fell down and shattered, Axl having lost consciousness. Layer stared, stuck a piece of bubblegum into her mouth and chewed it, then walked off, as if nothing happened.

_Later..._

Signas rubbed his temples as he stood in front of the door to X's room, which Phantom had his back against. The boy seemed determined to get as close to his dad as he possibly could, and had been hanging around outside the doorway to further emphasize his dedication. For a moment, Signas wasn't sure which Reploid to feel more sorry for. The one who was clearly being overwhelmed by the revelation of being a dad, or the poor child who refused to get far away from him.

"HA!" Signas heard Cynder scream from his left ear, "TOO SLOW!" Before Signas could react, he was promptly run over by Cynder and Fefnir. Phantom didn't move a muscle. Signas let out a groan as he got back up, mentally adding Cynder back to the list of Maverick Hunters that needed to see a doctor. While he was doing that, he added Fefnir to the list, too.

Shrugging, Signas then called out, "X! We need to talk!" He then heard X reply in a rather squeaky voice, "Y-yes Signas?" The minute the blue Reploid opened the door, Phantom grabbed a hold of his hand. X didn't seem to notice, far too stressed to even think straight. That was evidenced by the crazed expression on his face.

"Commander X, I am not happy," Signas said bluntly, "Ask me why I am not happy." X blinked, but managed to regain enough of his sanity to ask very calmly, "Why are you not happy?"

"It's _you_! You're driving me insane you pathetic imbecile! You faint after Cynder tells you what happened, you run away screaming and crash into a trash can when you wake up, and when the kids cling to you, you act like you've just become infected with the Maverick Virus and are fearing when it's going to take effect! Now Cynder's running around the base with Fefnir, leaving destruction in _their_ wake, Leviathan froze Axl and now he's too numb to even talk, I don't even _want_ to know what Zero and Harpuia are doing, and Phantom wants you, and you lock him out!"

X flinched at the outburst. Signas was right, he was being a weakling. "Signas," he said shakily, "I don't even know what I'm supposed to do! I was never designed for this!" Signas narrowed his eyes and roughly grabbed X, startling Phantom. "Don't give me excuses!" Signas yelled, slapping him silly, "GIVE ME RESULTS!"

"Okay! Okay! I'll try!"

Signas then let go of X and walked off, still fuming. X then casually looked at his 'son', who still had a firm hold on his hand. He pushed the pure shock out of his mind and allowed a warm smile to creep upon his face after a few minutes. He then wrapped his arm around Phantom and ruffled his hair. Phantom said nothing, though his eyes were wide. The semi-sweet moment was suddenly interrupted when a piece of paper landed in front of the two. "What's that?" Phantom asked quietly. X picked it up and read it:

"Life comes at you fast."

X blinked, wondering exactly why the Nationwide slogan was written on the piece of paper. That question was answered when he was suddenly smacked with a banjo, and run over by Cynder, holder of the instrument, and Fefnir, then subsquently, Leviathan, Harpuia, and Zero. Oh, and a Reploid whom I believe is Axl, but as he was covered head to toe with bandages, I can't be sure. And for good measure, Cynder's black-and-orange-haired-little-brother-with-matching-armour Ash, who opted to simply bonk the poor Reploid with his fiddle. Phantom was miraculously spared, but had let go of his dad's hand.

"You okay?" Phantom asked, very concerned. "Yes, I'm fine..." X replied, "Come on, let's go get your brothers and sister before they get in an accident."

"Alright."

X got back up and allowed Phantom to hold his hand, returning the favour. The two then walked down the hallway after the stampede of Reploids. Phantom said nothing, but X could tell he was happy somehow.

Maybe...this wasn't so bad?

Note: Well, there ya have it... Chapter 1! Likey or no likey? Also, I just want to say this as a female writer...

WHAT WAS I THINKING WRITING ABOUT A CHARACTER BECOMING A DAD?

Thank you for sharing your time.

kthxbai


	2. Thunderstorms

Note: MegaMan X belongs to Capcom. Cynder, Ash, Venus, and Pilot belong to me. If you're reading this, then that must mean you decided to continue onward with me on my journey. Thank you very much. ^.^ Also, as of now, our favorite blue Reploid shall be referred to as X ( save certain situations). No matter how weird that letter looks on its own to me, I'm willing to compromise if that's what the readers want. I have also 'fixed' that in the first chapter. Anyways, enjoy this one!

Chapter 2: Thunderstorms.

"And that is rain..." X explained, as the four children stared out the window, watching the rain beat down furiously upon the ground. Ash was outside dancing around and playing his fiddle, completely oblivious to the world around him. X then noticed something in the clouds and started, "And that..." Lightning nearly struck Ash, and he stood there dumb struck for a moment, before screaming and running away in terror. "LIGHTNING ROD!" Cynder screamed from her room, apparently having been watching her brother.

"...is lightning."

He no sooner said that, a loud booming noise was heard and the Maverick Hunter HQ shook. Harpuia, Leviathan, and Fefnir all shrieked and dove under the bed, while Phantom opted to cling to X in terror. "It's okay..." the blue Reploid said softly, "It's just thunder... Nothing to be afraid of." He then noticed outside the window Ash having come back outside wearing a rubber rain-coat this time, before resuming whatever song he had been playing. Seeing a Fire Reploid dancing around in the rain was disturbing, to say the least, but everything about Ash and his sister was disturbing.

There was a knock on the door, and X went to answer it, Phantom letting go of him. He opened the door to find Alia standing in front of it. She smiled at him and asked, "How are the kids doing?" X returned the smile and replied, "Well, it seems Phantom is the only one who doesn't hide under the bed... But other than that, they're fine. By the way, is Axl doing better?"

"He says he's plotting his revenge against Leviathan for what happened. At least he can talk a little bit now..."

X's left eye twitched, wondering what the heck Axl could be planning against his daughter. He briefly prayed it would not be as disastrous as the prank Axl had played on him on April Fool's Day. That prank somehow ended with X getting trapped in a chest, which Axl's 'twin sister' Venus accidentally locked and then kinda sent flying over a cliff... That wasn't in Axl's plan; heck, there was no chest involved in his prank. Yet it happened anyway. Apparently Axl doesn't even remember what the prank was supposed to be after Alia had gotten a hold of him.

Leviathan had crawled out from under the bed, thinking she had seen Axl. Instead, she had seen Venus, who had been walking down the hallway. For a moment Leviathan wondered why Axl looked like a girl, then she remembered her dad saying something about someone having falling victim to a duplicator and getting a 'twin'. That someone must've been Axl, Leviathan reasoned.

Venus stopped and noticed Leviathan, her green eyes growing huge. X and Alia noticed what was going on, and for some reason were probably planning something crazy to keep anything even crazier from happening. Suddenly, Venus clutched her guns protectively and ran away screaming, leaving Leviathan and the two adults dumb struck.

"What was that about?" Leviathan asked, wondering why Venus ran away. Fefnir had crawled out from under the bed as well and looked at his sister. "Oh, she just hates you for turning her brother into an ice cube." he said bluntly, earning a punch from a now enraged Leviathan. Within seconds, the two siblings were fighting with each other.

"Hey!" X yelled, "Stop it! Both of you!" He then grabbed Leviathan and tried to get her away from her brother, while Alia tried to pull Fefnir away. Harpuia watched in horror from under the bed, while Phantom opted to facepalm. The fight between Ice and Fire seemed unending, quite clearly. But I digress. Finally, the two adults managed to overpower the siblings and pulled them away from each other.

"Look, I'm warning you both now..." X said sternly, "No. More. FIGHTING! Or you'll be sorry!" Leviathan and Fefnir both looked horrified, and decided that their dad wasn't kidding. Alia only smirked, deciding that if anything needed to be said about the whole ordeal, X had already said it. However, she opened her mouth to say something unrelated to the fighting, but was cut off by another voice:

"Ah! Hello X! Hello Alia! Hello kids-I-don't-know-and-for-some-reason-am-terrified-of!"

X and Alia both fought back a groan as a blond-haired Reploid in brown and blue armour came up to them. "Hello Pilot..." X said, trying to not sound like he wanted to say 'Get lost'. Alia for a moment wondered briefly why Pilot wasn't, well, repairing the communication system that Cynder somehow managed to wreck, but decided not to ask.

_Meanwhile, in another dimension ( AKA another room)..._

"I thought Pilot _fixed_ this!" Pallette screamed in rage. "That's the problem," Layer said bluntly, "_He_ fixed it." Pallette let out another scream of rage and grabbed the device. "Work you stupid thing!" she yelled, "WORK!" She then promptly began slamming the device against the table, damaging it and the table. Layer facepalmed as the communications device was wrecked once more. Afterwards, Pallette calmed down and looked at the demolished device. "Wait..." she started, "That wasn't a good idea..." Layer fought the urge to say 'No duh Sherlock'.

_We now return to our previously scheduled program..._

Pilot casually took a sip of his drink, after which Alia decided to ask something that had been nagging at her. "What the heck is it you're drinking?" was all she said. Pilot looked perplexed for a moment and examined the greenish liquid in his mug. "I don't really know..." he replied, "All I know is it has sugar, caffeine, and pineapples."

"...Sorry I asked..."

Pilot didn't seem to hear her and promptly shouted, "Well, it was nice talking with ya! See ya!" With that, he took another sip of his drink and walked off, somehow managing to crash right into a trash can after a few minutes. Leviathan and Fefnir both decided that Pilot was to be avoided at all costs. Harpuia and Phantom felt the same.

Another loud boom shook the building, the children screamed, and Alia decided to get back to the subject she had come for in the first place. "Anyway, I mostly just came to spend some time with the children..." she said, Fefnir having escaped her grasp and diving under the bed. Leviathan escaped X's grasp soon after and did the same. "Oh, that's not a problem," X replied, "I need all the help I can get... Especially after the ice cream fiasco... Zero is going to pay for that one."

"What, are Harpuia and Leviathan hyper or something?"

"In a way. It doesn't take much to get them excited right now... I'm considering the storm a blessing. At least they're not running around screaming and singing about lollipops."

"I _don't_ want to know..."

"Good for you."

X then moved out of the way so Alia could come into the room, and then closed the door after walking in himself. Afterwards they heard the sound of someone giving a quick strum of their banjo, and then laser beams being fired. "MY EYE!" they heard Ash scream in pain. "Oops!" Cynder cried soon after, "Sorry!" Alia looked at X desperately, and he promptly locked the door to keep the crazies out and the room's occupants safe.

After that odd little scene, X suddenly found Phantom holding his hand as usual. Actually, holding his arm and pretty much glued to his side was a more accurate description. X stood there staring at the boy for a moment, trying to figure out how to sit down on the bed without having to free himself from Phantom's grasp. Finally, something within him basically said 'Forget it' and he walked over to the bed and sat down, Phantom still firmly attached to his arm and showing no signs of letting go.

"Oh wow..." Alia muttered, chuckling, "He's very...attached, for lack of a better word." X gave her a faint smile and said simply, "He believes if he leaves my side, evil ninjas will jump out of nowhere and attack me." At this point, Alia looked at Phantom and smiled sweetly. "You're so brave, keeping those evil ninjas away..." she humoured him, earning a rare grin from him. Another boom of thunder was heard and Phantom tightened his grip, making X yelp in pain, while the three under the bed screamed to high Heaven once more.

"Alia, I think you might want to take a look at your leg..." X said a couple seconds later, discomfort evident in his voice from the tighter grip. Alia could feel someone gripping her right leg, and looked down to see it was Leviathan, who was shaking uncontrollably. "Mommy, I'm scared." the girl said bluntly, tightening her grip to further emphasize that. Alia and X both blinked. Not once had any of the children called Alia 'Mommy'. It was just 'Miss Alia', or in Harpuia's case, 'Miss Ali', as he had a hard time pronouncing her name ( which was odd; he could pronounce HIS name just fine).

Shrugging that little shock off, Alia then decided to carefully sit down on the bed next to X, who looked like he was considering prying Phantom off his arm with a crowbar ( luckily for Phantom, no such item was in the room). Alia no sooner sat down, Leviathan climbed up her leg and promptly sat down on her lap, holding onto her hand and squeezing it, as more thunder boomed. Harpuia suddenly shot out from under the bed like a rocket and grabbed a hold of X, deciding Fefnir wasn't the best company. Both Alia and X wondered how long it would be before Fefnir came out from under the bed.

"Harp..." X said slowly, struggling to breathe, "You're choking me..." Harpuia then loosened his grip on X's neck. "Sorry Dad..." he said quietly.

"It's alright..."

The rain seemed to beat down even harder, and the noise it made made the three children look around warily. X and Alia had no clue what Fefnir was doing under the bed, though they assumed he had stayed there so his siblings wouldn't see what a whiny baby he was. But that was just a guess, given he had no problem diving under there with Harpuia and Leviathan in the first place. Then again, it was pretty dark under the bed, so maybe the siblings didn't see how horrified they all were.

"It's going to break in and get us, isn't it?" Harpuia quietly whispered, trying to keep himself from turning his head and seeing the scary storm outside the window. X seemed unable to speak, as Harpuia's hold on his neck tightened again, but it wasn't so bad that he couldn't breathe. "No it isn't," Alia replied gently, "It's too afraid to break in here!"

"Really?"

"Really."

Harpuia then calmed down slightly, but still kept a firm grip on his dad. X stared at Alia absolutely dumb struck, wondering what just happened between her and Harpuia. She simply gave him a mischevious smile in response, feeling no need to explain what happened. Another boom of thunder came, and apparently Fefnir decided to crack, because he was now clinging to Alia's leg, as she was closest to him, and he didn't feel like spending a few extra milliseconds just to reach X. Leviathan, Harpuia, and Phantom opted to simply stare at him, making him shriek, "What're you looking at?" His siblings blinked, all of them thinking the same thing:

You, freak.

Neither the children or the adults said anything after that. Thunder no longer was booming, and the rain was coming down a lot gentler. The 'danger' now nonexistent, the children let go of X and Alia, running towards the window to watch. X and Alia looked at each other, then walked over to them. Leviathan seemed most interested in the rain, X noticed. After a few minutes, the sun peeked through the clouds, and a small but colourful ray of light could be seen. The children were all awestruck by it.

"And that..." X started, smiling, "...is a rainbow."

Note: ...And I'm gonna stop there. Review please? :) Is there anything that needs improving? Also, I know this might seem weird, but in each chapter, Pilot is going to reference a movie/game/show/etc, and I want to see how many of you can get the reference. That said...what movie did he reference this chapter?

...Ironically, my editor ( AKA my mom) read this chapter during a thunderstorm. O.o

kthxbai


	3. Adventures in Fine Dining

Note: MegaMan X belongs to Capcom. Cynder, Ash, Venus, and Pilot belong to me. The title is reference to a Home Improvement episode of the same name. Also, this chapter was suggested by my mom... And the reference Pilot made last chapter... Ratatouille. When he told Alia he didn't know what his drink was, that was the reference, as in an advertisement for the movie, Remy asks his brother what he's eating and he says he doesn't know.

Also, word of warning, there's a lot of screaming out of desperation in this chapter. It was actually both fun and torturous for me to write.

Chapter 3: Adventures in Fine Dining.

X and Alia were at their wits' end.

They had been spending the entire day trying to teach the children proper table manners and the uses of eating utensils, which as they had observed, was going to be easier said than done. Cynder and Ash had apparently 'taught' the children what _not_ to do, and well... You can probably figure out what's going on... It seemed the only child who was catching on was Phantom, but all things considered, seeing how he was the better behaved of the bunch, that wasn't surprising.

"Leviathan, just keep your mouth closed while you're chewing!" Alia breathed, looking ready to collapse, as the Ice Reploid just wouldn't listen and Alia was beginning to believe Leviathan just wanted to annoy her. Meanwhile, X was trying to explain to Fefnir and Harpuia what each eating utensil was for ( he decided Fefnir was barbaric, as he barely acknowledged the utensils). Harpuia, on the other hand, was scared to death of the sharper utensils and was struggling to convince his dad that the spoon could work for anything. That resulted in X getting sprayed in the eye by the juices in the small piece of chicken that Harpuia had squashed with the spoon. Phantom had disappeared to who-knows-where, but X and Alia couldn't blame the poor kid. They wanted to leave so badly.

"Harp, I promise you, the knife won't hurt you!" X shrieked, rubbing his eye which was burning. "But it's sharp and pointy!" Harpuia whined.

"It's a butter-knife!"

"It's _sharp_!"

Axl, now fully recovered, stood outside the door to the cafeteria, which X, Alia, and the children pretty much had full control of, Venus standing near him. They both heard the screaming and the shouting, and for lack of a better word, looked dumb struck. "I'm scared to go in there..." Axl said bluntly. "Same here..." Venus replied, then she shuddered when Pilot's voice could be heard from down the hallway:

"Hello Axl! And hello Beautiful Venus!"

Venus looked at Axl desperately, and he waved the box of cookies around to show that he had them. Venus took the box and turned to face Pilot. "Hey Pilot!" she declared in a sickeningly sweet voice, "I have some cookies for you!" Pilot blinked. "But I thought you _hated_ me!" he shrieked, before a grin crept upon his face, "Ah... You were just playing hard to get then?"

"That's right!" _'Must...not...RETIRE!'_

"That's...that's great! This means we're making progress!"

"Pilot?"

"Yeah?"

"Just shut up and eat the cookies, okay?"

Venus then shoved the box into Pilot's hands. He was about to say something, but her intense glare made him reconsider. He then pulled a cookie out and crammed the entire thing into his mouth and started chewing, making Venus grimace. After a few seconds, he swallowed and then his eyes grew huge, as realization dawned on him. "This is cinnamon!" he cried, his tongue incredibly slurred, "I'm allergic to cinnamon!" A mischevious grin crept upon Venus' lips. "Of course it is..." she said darkly, "..._Darling_..."

"Why you!"

Venus then ran down the hallway laughing as Pilot pursued her, tripping every five seconds. Axl blinked, then walked the opposite direction, wondering exactly why Pilot liked Venus even after all the trouble she went through to show him how much she dislikes him. Then again, Pilot was never one to take a hint...

"Leviathan!" Alia snapped, getting the girl's attention, "Chew. With. Your. Mouth. Closed. OR SO HELP ME I WILL...!" She stopped when she noticed X staring at her, incredibly dumb struck. Apparently, he wasn't exactly used to hearing Alia yell, but then again, teaching children table manners was serious business. Leviathan looked horrified, and slowly started chewing with her mouth closed, not really wanting to find out what else Alia was going to say. "...Thank you..." Alia breathed, her forehead making contact with the table.

X blinked, then shrugged and turned his attention back to Fefnir and Harpuia. "Good grief Fefnir!" he cried, as the blond for some reason or another had bit his piece of chicken and was trying to tear it apart, "Take smaller bites for Pete's sake! AND USE THE KNIFE AND FORK!" Yelling may work for Leviathan, and to some extent, Harpuia, but not Fefnir. X narrowed his eyes, then promptly smacked the boy upside the head to get his attention.

"Ow!" Fefnir cried, clutching his head. "Listen to me Fefnir..." X said threateningly, knowing full well Fefnir wasn't afraid of physical punishment ( he was a combat Reploid, after all), "If you don't do what I tell you... I'm going to _force_ you to watch Pallette's _entire_ movie collection!"

For those who are wondering, Pallette's movie collection consisted of every Barbie movie on the face of the earth. Now, seeing how this is centuries or so into the future, and that they make Barbie movies non-stop...oi, that's a lotta Barbie.

Fefnir's eyes widened in terror and he promptly screamed, "Yes sir!" in defeat. He then picked up the knife and fork, and used them accordingly, and acted as gentleman-like as he could. Deciding Leviathan and Fefnir were now under their full control, X and Alia then turned their attention to Harpuia, who unceremoniously choked on a piece of chicken, coughed it up, and spit it out of his mouth and right back on the plate when he saw their gaze. The two adults looked disgusted, to say the least, but said nothing.

The door to the cafeteria suddenly opened, and Zero attempted to walk in, attempted being the keyword here. X and Alia had been trying to get Harpuia to use the scary and sharp utensils, but the boy screamed in protest.

Which was exactly why the butter-knife went flying across the room and smack into the wall right next to Zero's right eye.

The Crimson Knight stood there for a rather long moment, trying to comprehend just what happened. Finally, he turned around and left, pretty freaked out, and rightfully so. Cynder noticed him walking off and promptly put a 'Do not disturb' sign on the cafeteria door. For some reason, X and Alia failed to notice Zero having tried to come in.

X stared blankly at the knife in the wall. The knife suddenly slid out of the crack it had made, and fell to the ground with a clang. For some reason, X swore the thing had broke in half, but that was just plain silly. "HARPUIA!" Alia suddenly shrieked, and X's attention quickly went from the ill-fated butter-knife ( may it rest in peace -or pieces, as the case may be) to Harpuia, who had successfully jammed the fork into the table and rendered it unusable.

"Ha! You're ridiculous Harpy!" Leviathan yelled with her mouth full, and Fefnir, his mouth also full, decided to add, "Harpy's a scaredy-cat!" Harpuia's face took on a pinkish hue, and he slowly slid down on his chair, concealing his face. X and Alia promptly turned their attention to Leviathan and Fefnir. "Don't talk with your mouths full!" Alia screamed, "It's not polite!" Leviathan calmly swallowed and said, "Well, you only told us we had to keep our mouths closed while we chew... You said nothing about talking."

X and Alia looked anything but amused by this response.

"Okay, new rule," X started, "Loop holes... NOT OKAY!" Leviathan sighed, but decided not to question. Fefnir seemed of the same mind, his dad's threat not forgotten. Suddenly, memories of something he had heard Cynder and Ash talk about entered his mind, and he decided to ask, "Slicing Mechaniloids into smithereens and watching all the oil squirt out isn't a good thing to talk about while eating, is it?" X and Alia stared at him blankly, their expressions clearly stating the answer. "Thought so..." Fefnir said sadly.

"Now Harpuia..." Alia said, turning to the green-haired boy, who looked ready to cough up the same piece of chicken again, "_Swallow_... Don't, I repeat, _don't_ spit it out again. Think of other people who might be around you. Do you think they'd like that?" Harpuia managed to force it down his throat and shook his head. Alia noticed X staring at the fork, which looked terribly bent. The blue Reploid then got up from the table and walked off somewhere, returning with a plastic knife and fork. Harpuia stared at them in awe.

"Here..." X said, managing to regain whatever was left of his battered patience, "These are in no way dangerous to a Reploid..." He felt the need to say that because apparently, they were slightly dangerous to Humans that had clue what they were doing. He handed them to Harpuia, who used them with no problem, clearly not afraid of them. X's forehead then met the table, and Alia followed suit. The rest of the 'lesson' went on smoothly after this, and for that the tortured Reploids were thankful.

_Later..._

"Phantom!" X cried, "Where are you?" The door to a cabinet slowly opened, and Phantom shyly crawled out, before making a beeline for his dad and becoming glued to his side. X gave a wry grin and awkwardly walked to the door, Alia having left with the others to drop them off at his room ( though he doubted he'd find Leviathan there; she seemed quite attached to Alia). As the two left the cafeteria, Pilot was outside waiting for them, an idiotic grin on his face. "Boston Rebels!" he cried, his tongue even more slurred as Venus had somehow tricked him into eating more cinnamon products, "Experience the heat!"

Pilot then walked off, leaving X and Phantom to wonder who the Boston people were and why they were rebelling in the first place.

Note: There we go! Review please? This was actually pretty difficult for me to write, but I think I did a decent job... Also, if Reploids can't get allergies, I say Pilot can because he was found in a dumpster ( no joke).


	4. School is in Session, Maybe

Note: MegaMan X belongs to Capcom. Venus and Pilot belong to me. This is yet another chapter suggested by my mom. And the reference Pilot made last chapter... The Game Plan. In that movie, Dwayne Johnson's character ( yes, his name escapes me) was allergic to cinnamon, and unaware of that fact, his daughter gave him cinnamon cookies. Then during an advertisement for his team, Mr. Johnson's character actually says 'Boston Rebels! Experience the heat!' while his tongue is slurred.

Chapter 4: School is in Session...Maybe.

Axl looked to the right, then the left, before walking down the hallway while quietly humming the Mission Impossible theme. It was very early in the morning, quite a few minutes before anyone would think of waking up, save Pilot ( who Layer had seen sleep walking while carrying a refrigerator one not-so-fine morning). He made sure he had the small music player with him, then slowly approached the door leading to Venus' bedroom.

"Do you have a death wish or something?"

Axl resisted the urge to scream as he turned around to face Zero. "Look, I know she hates the song, but I've gotta see what happens!" Axl protested, "And what are you doing up, anyway?" Zero leaned on the wall and replied, "That defect Pilot somehow managed to turn my capsule into a dang toaster when he worked on it."

"A...toaster...?"

"It shot me out like a slice of toast, complete with dinging noise. I am _not_ going back in that thing ever again."

Axl blinked, but decided not to press the matter further. Zero then walked off, muttering something about reprogramming Pilot to not be, well, Pilot. Either that or Zero wanted to wreck the Reploid and toss him back into the dumpster he was found in. Shrugging, Axl returned to the task at hand. Quietly, the door hissed open, and he saw Venus in a bright blue gown, sound asleep in her capsule. Slowly, he approached, before setting the music player right next to her left ear and turning it on...

Everyone in the base probably heard Venus screaming in absolute rage, while Axl screamed in terror, as well as some random Alvin and the Chipmunks song playing in the background. They also heard the sounds of guns being fired, mostly likely by Venus.

After the very eventful morning, which had concluded with Signas sending both New Generation Reploids to the poor Reploid who was the psychiatrist ( Venus mostly because she reacted so violently to something so trivial, whereas Axl... Signas had to know what possessed him to even do such a thing and get such a reaction from his sister), X and Alia were presented with a brand new challenge. That challenge?

"School?" X inquired, reading the official government letter, "They want my children to go to _school_? But they're Reploids! I thought the government hated Reploids..." Alia let out a sigh. "If it walks and talks, they want it in school so they can create super soldiers for their own agenda." she said bluntly.

"...I have to agree there... Oh, it does say we can home-school them... The government just wants them getting some kind of 'education'..."

"Let's do it! It can't be that hard, and we'll know just what is getting downloaded into their processors."

Alia would soon regret her 'It can't be that hard' comment.

Because remember, the children in question are: Harpuia, who has the ability to be afraid of everything. Fefnir, who has the ability to be very barbaric with anything. Leviathan, who has the ability to ignore those whom she wanted to. And Phantom...who has the gift of obedience, but a fear of his siblings.

X was beginning to lose hope in Harpuia and Fefnir. Harpuia was afraid of anything and everything math and science, claiming they made his processors want to explode, while Fefnir...well, let's just say he didn't see the importance in reading things, even within his own processors, claiming that he'd rather wreck the Mavericks the words told him about than read about how to wreck them ( he also didn't find numbers very interesting either, claiming that calculating when to strike wasn't as important as striking itself). It didn't matter how important these things would be to potential Maverick Hunters; Harpuia and Fefnir wanted nothing to do with them, though at least Harpuia wanted to please his dad. X had no clue what Fefnir wanted to do. For all he knew, the crazy blond wanted to blow the room up.

Alia, on the other hand, was trying to keep herself from grabbing some random Fire-infused weapon and smacking Leviathan with it, just to get her attention. Leviathan was completely ignoring her and constantly whining about how she was smart and didn't need to do school. She even claimed she could hack into the Maverick Hunter database, and equip all the computers with a screensaver whose pictures depicted Pilot wearing all his crazy fake mustaches to prove it. Naturally, Alia didn't believe she could. Meanwhile, Phantom was once more the angel of the day and had gotten all of his schoolwork done, then promptly hid in one of the file cabinets.

After a few moments, a confused look came upon Harpuia's face, as more files downloaded into his processors. "Dad..." he started nervously, "What's a nuclear missile?" X's left eye twitched, but before he could say anything, Harpuia quickly said, "I don't understand this information..." X was currently having a hard time trying to figure out how to explain it, as he was more or less not a fan of weapons ( but understood their necessity). "Uh... You know what a missile is, right?" he asked.

"Yeah... It's a giant pencil that goes boom, right?"

"...Yes. Do you know what nuclear energy is?"

"...No..."

"Try looking it up in your data bank, then."

Harpuia closed his eyes, and X could faintly hear beeping sounds as the child Reploid searched his data bank for the information. After a few minutes, Harpuia opened his eyes, the expression within them showing he understood exactly what nuclear energy was, and subsequently, a nuclear missile. "A nuclear missile is a giant pencil with the ability to reduce the population of a given area to zero?" he inquired. Zero popped his head in the room for a moment, having heard his name. Finally, he decided he had heard nothing and left, going unnoticed.

"Uh...yes..." X answered, really not sure how to respond to Harpuia's logic. "Sounds pretty cool to me." Fefnir muttered, only making the Blue Bomber even more uneasy. For a moment, X really wondered if the Elf that Fefnir came from truly was a part of him...because if it was, he had to wonder what part of himself was this...violent...

"Leviathan!" Alia cried, growing tired of the girl's refusal to look through any of the files, "At least look through the files on the ocean!" Leviathan blinked, then a grin crept upon her face, and she promptly dived into the files with reckless abandon, now suddenly interested. Alia then rubbed her temples, aware this would be a long day.

As if to add insult to injury, Pilot barged into the room, carrying a bunch of paper and other things. He then walked over to the only available seat and sat down, connecting himself to the information database. X and Alia stared blankly, wondering what the heck he was doing, and better yet, how he even got past Zero, who had insisted on guarding the door to keep the 'loonies' like Pilot, Cynder, and Ash out. They then wondered if all the other strange items Pilot had ( namely sparkles) was the reason. For a few moments, Pilot was busy pouring sparkles all over the papers he had while downloading the various information. When he was done, he grabbed the papers and unconnected himself, then let out a loud shriek of, "BECAUSE IT'S SPARKLY!" He then proceeded to run out of the room screaming, which then seemed to create a domino effect.

X and Alia cringed as Zero screamed in rage, the sounds of laser beams and shock waves could be heard being released from Cynder's banjo and Ash's fiddle, respectively, and hitting things, Pilot screaming about sparkles in a mantra, Axl and Venus screaming in pain, Pallette spewing out all kinds of threats, Layer yelling at everyone to calm down, and finally, Signas coming to intervene. Shortly afterwards, the fire alarm went off and the sprinklers turned on, soaking every single room in the Maverick Hunter HQ, only adding to the misery. Signas sounded very, very angry to boot. The screaming continued on.

While X, Alia, and the children were dumb struck, Zero promptly ran into the room and closed the door shut, breathing heavily. "It is not pretty." he said bluntly, ignoring the fact that the water had effectively drenched his hair and was trying to soak his armour. Not to mention there were traces of sparkles on his body, mysteriously. Two people suddenly started banging on the door, and then Axl and Venus screamed in unison, "Let us in! LET US IN!" Zero sighed and opened the door, narrowly escaping being run over by the two Reploids, who promptly ran to the cabinets and hid. Zero then locked the door and sat down with his back against it, while the racket continued. Afterwards, he blinked in disbelief and asked a very appropriate question:

"Does anyone know what the heck got into that creep?"

"I think I can answer that!" Harpuia piped in, "Pilot blew a couple circuits and has gone insane!" Everyone else stared at him for a long while. "Zero, you were there..." Leviathan said dramatically, "What did you see?" Zero groaned inwardly and said, "Pilot barged in, barged out, shoved sparkles in my face both times, Cynder and Ash randomly attacked each other, hitting Axl and Venus from afar, and subsequently, Pallette, who then started threatening everyone with her movie collection. Layer tried to get everyone to stop, but Pallette knocked her out cold, and then Signas... It was not pretty. Come to think of it, I believe Pallette punched Pilot too. And Cynder blasted the fire alarm and set if off."

When the sprinklers turned off, there was silence.

"I am not leaving this room." Zero said after a few minutes, "I'm dead serious. But anyway, carry on with what you were doing..." X and Alia's left eyes both twitched, but they resumed the 'class' with the children, ignoring Axl and Venus, who were busy looking in a very dusty file cabinet, coughing the entire time. Axl then got hit in the forehead by another drawer in the cabinet as it opened, Phantom peeking out of it. "Oops..." he muttered, lowering his head and closing the drawer while Axl rubbed his head. "What happened?" Axl groaned. "You got clobbered by a tiny ninja," Venus answered promptly, "Nothing big."

Amazingly, the remainder of the class was uneventful, other than Fefnir deciding to yap about how he's going to destroy Sigma when he's all grown up ( it was an announcement that even Zero had to say scared him; especially how Fefnir put it, you'd think he was Superman or something). Oh, and they still had to explain certain things to Harpuia ( like the square root of a triangle; the boy truly believed it was a plant root jammed into a square).

"Do you think it's safe to go outside now?" Alia inquired as she unhooked the three child Reploids from the database. Zero shook his head, but stood up anyway, preparing to look. "_I'll_ go outside," X promptly announced, "You get in enough trouble as it is." Zero harrumphed in response. "It's not my fault everything I do somehow ends in destruction..." he groaned, walking out of his friend's way. Phantom suddenly shoved the file cabinet open, whammed Venus on the head with it much to Axl's surprise, then jumped out and ran to X.

"Dad!" Phantom cried, clinging to the blue Reploid's arm, "You can't leave without me! The evil ninjas will get you!" X stared at the boy, blinking stupidly. "I'll be fine, Phantom," X replied, humouring the kid, "I'm just going to make sure it's safe, okay?"

"Okay..."

Phantom then let go of X's arm and stepped away from him sadly. X was amazed by this, but shrugged it off and carefully opened the door. The hallway was pretty much flooded, and the only person in it was some random Reploid who happened to be the janitor. He was currently trying to clean up the mess, looking like he wanted to scream ( he NEVER had this much work to do before). Sparkles were also all over the place, and some were arranged on the wall to spell 'SPARKLES LIVES!' for some reason or another. X decided that was Pilot's doing, and left it at that. He then slowly walked out of the room, looking around warily...

"HIYAH!"

X let out a scream as Cynder and Ash tackled him while dressed as ninjas.

"I knew it would happen!" Phantom cried, looking horrified. Zero patted him on the head. "Your dad is a strong Reploid," he told him, "He can handle those amateurs." Phantom calmed down slightly, but still looked very worried. Leviathan, Fefnir, and Harpuia had gotten closer to Alia, all of them looking freaked out. Eventually, X managed to send Cynder and Ash running off crying for whatever reason. X himself looked freaked out by their display.

"On another note, what did Pilot do with the database, I wonder?" Alia spoke up. Axl and Venus then hopped over to the area, hooking themselves up to the database. "Let's see here..." Axl muttered, before screaming, "OH SWEET PINEAPPLES!"

"What did he do?"

"He deleted the mission reports...and replaced them with pictures of Edward Cullen SPARKLING!"

"HE WHAT?"

"I thought Pilot hated Twilight with a passion..." Venus started, "He really must've gone insane..." She then noticed her 'brother' squirming in the chair. "Axl!" she cried, "We must delete these horrifying pictures from the database! These are the Mavericks for the day!" Surprisingly, that worked, and the two Reploids were on a deleting spree. X, having heard the whole thing, was now very horrified. "What'll happen if Signas finds out?" he inquired, before freezing as Signas' voice could be heard saying one thing:

"FIND OUT ABOUT WHAT?"

"It's official," Zero spoke up, "Life, as we know it, is over."

Note: There's Chapter 4... I seriously did not mean for it to get as stupid as it did, but meh. I hope you liked it nonetheless. And yes, I'm a Twilight hater... I don't have a problem with people who like Twilight, but the fanboys ( they exist) and fangirls are just nuts. That, and vampires don't sparkle...


	5. Liability

Note: I don't own MegaMan X. I'm just borrowing it for awhile without Capcom acknowledging (let alone noticing) it. I promise that when I put it back all nice and neat, they won't ever know it had been tampered with. :D I do own Cynder, Ash, Pilot, and Venus. I think it's obvious what Pilot referenced last chapter. Anyways, here's this chapter!

Chapter 5: Liability.

X and Alia both stared warily at Pilot as he was sound asleep, and strapped to a medical bed. The Reploid who was the 'doctor' was busy scanning the information detailing the state of Pilot's processors while the children watched in interest. Truth be told, X and Alia did not want to be in the same room with Pilot, but anything to get out of Signas' 'meeting' regarding the destroyed reports...

Soon, Signas' voice could be heard over the intercom, "Commander X! Navigator Alia! REPORT TO THE MISSION BRIEFING ROOM IMMEDIATELY!"

Well, so much for that.

X and Alia looked at each other worriedly, made sure the children were following them, then left the room as Signas repeated himself over the intercom. "H-hey, _wait_!" the Reploid doctor cried, running after them, "Y-you can't leave me with _him_!" The door was closed shut before he could reach it, however. He then shakily looked behind himself, as Pilot struggled against the straps, moaning softly, "B-brains..." The doctor felt his mechanical body starting to tremble in terror.

As X, Alia, and the children got closer to the mission briefing room, they could hear the sounds of a banjo and a fiddle being played, as well as Zero and Layer spewing out retirement threats. X then looked at the children as they approached the door. "Stay here..." he warned, and all four nodded (though X and Alia both had to wonder why Fefnir and Leviathan were grinning mischievously). X and Alia then walked into the room, seeing Cynder and Ash standing on the main desk where Signas was sitting (he did not look amused, either), playing their instruments like mad. Zero was also being restrained by Axl, Venus, and a few other Maverick Hunters, while Layer was being restrained by Pallette and other Navigators. Both Zero and Layer seemed dead-set on turning Cynder and Ash into scrap metal, then destroying every banjo and fiddle in existence. Then X dared to open his mouth:

"Uh... Hello?"

Momentarily distracted, the Maverick Hunters and Navigators let go of Zero and Layer, and with the speed and precision of a cheetah, the two pounced on Cynder and Ash, thus knocking them off the desk, amazingly missing Signas. The chief blinked for a moment, then quickly scooted his chair as far in the opposite direction of the four as he could. After quite a scuffle, Zero and Layer ran off with the banjo and fiddle, threw them both to the ground, then utterly destroyed them. Looking very satisfied, the two walked over to their seats. Cynder and Ash both looked heartbroken for a moment, then whipped a brand new banjo and fiddle out of thin air. Zero and Layer did not notice for some reason or another.

"That was inspirational..." Alia grimaced, as she and X stood there. X shrugged. "Commander X... Alia... Please sit down before something else happens." Signas said firmly, causing the two Reploids to snap out of whatever trance they were in and run to their seats. Signas looked at everyone for a brief moment, then picked up a piece of paper. "This...is a letter from the government," he said bluntly, "It would appear one of their officials had posed as a Maverick Hunter to monitor our operation. To say they aren't impressed would be an understatement."

"What do they expect?" Zero groaned, "They aren't exactly making things easy on us with all the new model Reploids and Mechaniloids they keep building... You know, the ones that are so powerful and will _never_ go Maverick, yet they do anyway? Yeah. Those ones. Gosh...I _love_ those things." Signas gave him an annoyed expression for a moment, wondering why the Crimson Knight couldn't wait until he was addressed to say anything.

"Ignoring that," Signas said bluntly, glancing at the letter again, "They also do not think the...children...belong here. The government feels they are a liability, and should either be modified to be competent soldiers, or terminated completely." He risked a glance at both X and Alia, seeing their horrified expressions. "What?" Axl suddenly cried, following Zero's wondrous example, "They aren't even here a _month_ and the government hates them already? Not! Cool!"

"...Can't anybody wait for me to address them...?"

"No, not really," Pallette spoke up, "You seriously can't expect us to not be angry and blurt out whatever comments we can think of." Everyone stared at her long and hard. "Wow, Pallette actually made a valid point..." Layer said, sufficiently freaked, "Eh, could be worse, I guess. It could've been Cynder, Ash, or Pilot..." The two Navigators' words were soaked in, then the existence of the two was completely ignored.

"I'm not letting them hurt _our_ kids!" X shouted, "What gives them the right to decide what should be done with them? They've done nothing wrong, and are not a liability! ...If the government is desperate for a liability, they really should be going after Pilot..." X heard someone clapping, and looked to see it was Zero, who had a smirk on his face. Alia looked at X in admiration, but he didn't notice her. He was too angry to notice. No one seemed to notice a small, purple-eyed face looking through the vent, either...

"I agree wholeheartedly..." Signas started, "But my hands are tied... The government has the authority to terminate all of us... It would seem the destruction of Sigma isn't enough to make them believe we are worth the trouble to keep running... There's nothing _I_ can do..." X and Alia both looked at him, trying to keep their emotions bottled up. The face in the vent suddenly disappeared.

"They want to do _what_?"

Leviathan's shout was shrill, and she struggled to keep from crying. Fefnir rolled his eyes at her, looking like he didn't care about the news Phantom had given them, but inside he wanted to bawl his eyes out, too. Harpuia was trembling, his grip on the rope he, his sister, and their brother were holding loosening greatly. Phantom didn't bother to hide the tears that were coming; he was too focused on the fact that hanging upside down was very uncomfortable. Finally, Harpuia, Leviathan, and Fefnir couldn't take it anymore, and burst into tears, effectively letting go of the rope. Phantom screamed in horror as he fell down the air vent, landing with a painful clang and thud.

"What was that?" Layer cried, dumb struck. "It came from the vent over there!" Pallette cried, pointing out the obvious. Axl and Venus both jumped out of their seats and to the vent, prying it open, revealing a crying Phantom, who was clutching his head in pain. X and Alia both wasted no time jumping out of their seats, shoving Axl and Venus unceremoniously off to the side, and making sure Phantom wasn't seriously hurt.

"P-Phantom!" X cried, having trouble forming words, "What were you...? Are you okay?" Having his 'parents' present didn't seem to comfort Phantom at all, and he continued crying, though X and Alia quickly figured out it wasn't from the fall he had endured, and that made the fluids that served as their blood run cold. He must've heard what Signas said...

"I...I'm not bad!" Phantom shrieked, clutching X's left arm and Alia's right arm tightly, "Neither are my brothers and sister!" Tears continued to flow from his eyes, and soon his speech became incomprehensible because of it. X and Alia could only stare helplessly, unsure of what to tell him. There was no guarantee they could set things right, and it seemed wrong to get his hopes up...

"You and your siblings will be just fine."

Phantom looked up to see Zero smiling at him, and soon the boy's look of agony turned to one of shock and hope. "...Re...really?" he managed, sniffling a little bit. Zero bent down to his eye-level and smiled warmly. "Yes, really," he responded, "Because not only are we going to oppose those..." he paused, trying to think of a word the child would understand, "..._meanies_...we are also going to make sure you guys can carry your own weight and still have fun."

Zero's short speech had its desired effect, as Phantom began to smile. "I agree with Zero," Alia stated, "We're not going to let them get away with this without a fight. That isn't us. It's never been us." All the Maverick Hunters and Navigators stood up and gave a triumphant cry in agreement, throwing their fists into the air.

"Please, calm down," Signas pretty much ordered, and everyone sat back down, "I propose that we send X and Alia to reason with the government, and leave training the children to Zero, Axl, and Venus, as they seem suitable for their respective tasks. Any objections?"

Everyone nodded in approval of the choice.

"Good. X and Alia, you are to depart immediately. Zero, Axl, and Venus, find Phantom's siblings and teach them to harness their power. Everyone else, you are dismissed."

As all the Reploids left the room, Signas chose to sit back in his chair and stare at the letter, his expression unreadable. "...It seems that no matter what Reploids do, Humans will never be pleased with them..." he started, "And no matter what _Humans_ do, _Reploids_ will never be pleased with _them_. When will this bitterness and distrust end?"

_Later..._

"...You'll come back soon, right?" Harpuia asked worriedly, not at all liking the idea of X and Alia being gone for awhile. "We'll get back as soon as we can, alright?" X replied, smiling at the smaller Reploid and ruffling his hair.

"You better!" Fefnir shouted forcefully, "I don't want to be stuck with these guys forever!" Harpuia and Leviathan saw it fit to glare at him, while Phantom simply ignored them, not wanting to get involved in whatever it may lead to. X only gave them a rather bittersweet expression. "...Be good, okay?" he managed, "I don't want to come home and find the place has been demolished," he then turned his gaze to Fefnir, "I know you hear me loud and clear." This got the four to smile and chuckle, which made him smile in response.

"I guess this is goodbye for now..." Alia said sadly, waving at them as she and X got into their transport, which was a helicopter. The children, along with Zero, Axl, and Venus, waved at them as well, before the helicopter flew out of their site.

"Well kids, it looks like Maverick Hunter training starts now!" Zero shouted as he looked at everyone, gripping the hilt to his saber. "...After ice cream, you mean," Axl retaliated, making Venus facepalm, "No one should have to officially start training without ice cream first. Besides, why not let them have some sunshine before it?"

"...I like your way of thinking at the moment..."

With that, the group walked back inside the HQ and began a short journey to the cafeteria, the four children more curious about their own capabilities than anything else. They hadn't realized the Elemental power they each held could be much greater than it was.

For once, some kind of lesson didn't sound like a bad idea after all.

Note: I just want to say I'm so sorry for the long wait. I had hit a large writer's block with this. What you see here I almost got rid of, because at one point I felt it didn't fit the story, but I kept what I had written anyway. I decided to read it one day and then chose to finish it, because I had a way to continue it, but nothing to replace it. I hope to make a more timely and better update next time.


End file.
